Pearl Jam Uses WAM!NET for Mastering "Bootleg" CDs

WAM!NET, a global provider of shared content management and delivery services today announced that Pearl Jam is using WAM!NET services to deliver recordings of their 2003 Riot Act World Tour concerts to mastering and replication facilities to create “bootleg” CDs that can be ordered online from www.pearljambootlegs.com and delivered to fans within seven to ten days of each performance.

Not available in stores, the limited edition bootleg discs can be ordered from the web site the day after each concert. Upon ordering, fans receive a link to download MP3 files of the show, and a fully-mastered double CD will be shipped to them. Bootleg discs are available for $12.98 to members of Pearl Jam’s “Ten Club” fan club, and cost $14.98 for non-members.

“For the 2000 tour we didn’t get a chance to master and release the bootlegs until the end of each leg of the tour,” said Tim Bierman, Pearl Jam’s Ten Club manager. “This time we wanted to provide fans with a souvenir of the show they experienced immediately following the concert. These bootlegs come pretty close. We wouldn’t be able to accomplish such a quick turn-around without the WAM!NET service,” added Bierman.

“Pearl Jam is showing that you don’t have to compromise the quality of the music to combat piracy,” said Tom Moran, director of media and entertainment for WAM!NET. “What the band is doing represents not only a creative response to bootlegging, but they are also showing dedication to producing inexpensive, high quality recordings that are much better than the un-mastered novelty discs that other companies are trying to sell at the venue on the night of the show. It is great to see musicians come up with new ways to respond to changes in the market, and we hope to see other artists and labels move in the same direction,” added Moran.

Pearl Jam is using WAM!NET services for their entire 2003 Riot Act World Tour which includes shows in North America, Japan and Australia.